


Stranded Christmas

by malecstele



Series: It Started With a Storm [1]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Airports, Christmas, First Meetings, Flirting, Fluff, Kissing, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-20
Updated: 2017-12-20
Packaged: 2019-02-17 17:57:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13082220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/malecstele/pseuds/malecstele
Summary: Magnus is heading to England to visit Ragnor and Catarina for the holidays.Alec is heading to LA to meet up with his siblings for the holidays.The only problem standing in their way is snow. After a huge snow storm hits New York, all flights are cancelled. Now they're both stranded at the airport on Christmas Eve.Neither of them know that their lives are about to change forever.





	Stranded Christmas

“You have got to be kidding me!”

“I’m sorry,” said the desk lady. “All flights leaving JFK are canceled until further notice.”

“But it’s Christmas Eve! I have a dinner with my siblings tonight!”

The lady shrugged, “Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to step aside, I promise that I will put you on the first flight out of here to Los Angeles.”

Alec groaned, running his fingers through his hair with frustration, “Thank you for your time.” He stormed away to a nearby coffeeshop and got himself a latte. What the hell was he supposed to do now? He supposed that he could go back home, but that meant that he wouldn’t be at the airport when the flights are able to leave. He had to get to L.A. as quick as possible. His siblings, Jace, Izzy and Max were all there, waiting for him. 

He glared into his drink as he took a sip. He should have left with them, none of this would have happened then. But no, he didn’t want to take time off work. He thought that everything would be fine if he were to leave on Christmas Eve. I’m an idiot, Alec thought to himself. He looked out the window and saw snow coming down hard, it didn’t look like it was going to stop anytime soon. He should probably head back home. There was no point anymore. His siblings were just going to have fun without him anyways. 

Pulling out his phone, he dialed Izzy.

“Alec, you okay?” she asked.

“Yeah…but there’s some bad news. All the flights have gotten canceled because of the storm.”

“Do you know how long it’s going to last?”

“No, but it doesn’t look like it’ll stop anytime soon. I’m probably just going to head back home and wait until I hear that the flights are back on.”

“You will do no such thing.”

“Why?”

“You are going to get on the first flight out of there and I bet you that once you get home, it’ll be hard to get back, considering the storm is as bad as you say it is. You’ll just be even more late.”

Alec sighed, she had a point. “Fine, I guess I’ll just wait it out here.”

“I love you, Alec.”

“Love you too, Iz.” With that he hung up, as he started to get up he felt someone bump into him, then he felt hot, scalding coffee soak into his shirt. He yelped out in surprise.

“Shit! I’m so sorry!” said a voice.

Alec pulled the wet part of his shirt away from his body to prevent any more burns. He looked up at the stranger and every single thought went away because the man in front of him was probably one of the most beautiful men he had ever met. 

***

Magnus was not having a good day. First one of his workers had called him saying that they were resigning, then he found out that his flight was canceled, and finally to top it all off, he spilt coffee over some stranger. 

The man was quite handsome, he had gorgeous hazel eyes and adorably messy hair, not to mention, he was also every toned. Before the stranger could say any harsh words to him, Magnus said, “I’ll help clean you up.”

The man nodded, not saying anything. Magnus didn’t know if that was a good or a bad thing. He followed the guy to the bathroom and Magnus immediately went to the paper towels, wetted them and handed them to Mr. No-Name. 

It was no use; the coffee was definitely not coming out of that shirt. “I am so sorry. I should have been paying attention to where I was going.”

“It’s fine,” the man said softly. “I just don’t know what I’m going to wear since the airport has already taken my luggage with spare clothes.”

“You can borrow something of mine,” Magnus said quickly. Internally cringing at himself he added, “Or you can buy a shirt from one of stores here.”

Magnus saw the man grimace at the second suggestion. He gazed at Magnus. Magnus had to remind himself to not stare, he could definitely get lost in those eyes, “You sure? I don’t want to inconvenience you.”

Magnus smiled and shook his head. “It’s fine, I brought a check-in and a carry-on, so consider yourself lucky,” he winked. 

The man blushed slightly, “Thank you, uh, what’s your name?”

“Magnus Bane,” Magnus said, holding his hand out.

“Alec Lightwood,” Alec took his hand and shook it.

“I would say pleasure to meet you but I’m sure that there are probably a hundred better ways to meet someone.”

Alec laughed, “It’s fine, I didn’t like this shirt that much anyways.”

Magnus grinned, for a second forgetting what he was doing. Shaking his head, he crouched down and unzipped his tiny suitcase, Magnus always carried a couple spare outfits in his carry-on, you never knew when the airline would lose your luggage. He glanced at Alec for a second, studying what he was wearing. He was wearing a pair of sweat pants and a dark blue shirt. Judging by this, Alec would probably not want to wear majority of Magnus’ wardrobe. Magnus decided on a simple black shirt. He handed it to Alec. 

Alec awkwardly thanked him and took the stained shirt off, Magnus had force himself to not stare at him for too long. He was beautiful. The shirt fit him fine, it was a little loose around the shoulders since Magnus was slightly broader, but overall it was fine.

“Thank you,” Alec said once again. 

Magnus smiled, “I hope I didn’t burn you too much.”

“It was mostly just the surprise that got me.”

As they walked out of the bathroom together, Alec asked, “So, where are you heading? Or at least were heading?”

“I was going to England to visit a couple of my friends, we alternate whose house we go to every year. You?”

“L.A., my siblings are there. We all live here but they went early.”

“Why couldn’t you, if you don’t mind me asking.”

“Work.”

Magnus smiled softly, “Yeah, I know how that feels, it’s the exact same reason why I couldn’t leave sooner.”

Alec sighed, “Now we’re both stuck here.”

“Yeah, I have definitely had better days. But, since there’s nothing I can do about the matter, I’m going to make the most of it.”

Alec snorted, “How could you possibly make the most out of being stranded at an airport on Christmas Eve.”

Magnus smiled, “I don’t know yet but I’m sure I’ll think of something.”

Alec stared at Magnus for a few moments. Magnus silently noted to himself that Alec was sometimes hard to read. Especially right now, he couldn’t tell if Alec was amused by his comment, or just plain out annoyed. 

Magnus awkwardly cleared his throat, “Well, I’ll see you around, Alexander.”

“How do you know that’s my name?” Alec said, clearly surprised.

Magnus shrugged, “Lucky guess. See you around.”

Alec waved to him. Magnus looked back once before heading off, he really needed to call Cat and Ragnor about the change of plans.

***

Alec had never felt more awkward in his life, why did he wave to Magnus? He was literally standing right in front of him! Alec knew that Magnus probably thought nothing about it, but Alec knew that he would probably be thinking about this moment and cringing for the next several years. Alec wasn’t a shy person and wasn’t normally this awkward person, but there was something about that man that made him feel so flustered. Alec walked around the airport and managed to find a chair that was unoccupied. He pulled out his phone and as he scrolled through his emails, he listened to the people next to him. They were all complaining about the cancelations. One lady was even talking about how she was going to sue the airport for making her late. Alec rolled his eyes, it’s not like the airport staff were in a meeting and one said, “Hey! You know what would be a great thing? Making it snow so much that we can’t fly any planes out of here!”

He checked the weather and silently cursed to himself, the storm wasn’t expected to stop until the middle of the night. That meant that the first flight available would be in the early morning. Then the flight would be a little less than six hours. The earliest he would see his siblings would probably be in the afternoon the next day. 

As he sat there, he became bored, what was he supposed to do? It was 2PM currently. He considered doing some work stuff for the meantime but he quickly got rid of that thought, it was work that got him into this mess in the first place! He went back to his email, discovering that he had received three since he had checked a couple of minutes ago, of course they were all work related. Even when he was on vacation, work followed him. 

He loved being a lawyer, he really did, but the job was super frustrating at times. Especially in the firm he worked at. He had lately gotten a new boss who seemed to have no idea what he was doing. Alec and several of his coworkers constantly had be fixing his mistakes. 

Alec put his phone on sleep, not letting work stress him out. This was his vacation, he was not going to let anything ruin it, not a snowstorm and certainly not work.

***

Magnus’ phone rang as he video called Catarina. When she picked up she looked at him with concern, “Magnus? Shouldn’t you be on a flight right about now?”

“I was supposed to be but…nature had other ideas.” Magnus turned the phone so she could see out the window. 

“It looks really bad out there, do you know what time they estimate for things to be up and running again?”

Magnus shook his head, “They just said after the storm stops and a little after to make sure. I looked up when the storm will end and it said sometime in the night. I’m sorry that I’m going to be late.”

Cat gave him a soft smile, “We will celebrate when you get here, even if that’s on New Year’s.” 

Magnus laughed, “Today really hasn’t been the greatest day for me.”

She gave him a sympathetic look, “At least you’re stranded in a place with many places to eat and shop.”

“I always wanted an overpriced, ‘I heart New York’ mug,” Magnus joked.

Cat laughed. “Well, I can talk to you for a couple of hours at least, it’s only eight at night here, so I have time.”

“Where’s Ragnor?”

“He went out to buy a couple of last minute things.”

Magnus looked up from his phone to see Alec, he was sitting in one of those chairs located next to the gate. He looked so handsome, even from here.

“Magnus? You still with me?”

Magnus looked back at her, “Sorry, I was just people-watching.”

“Any people in particular?” she winked.

“Maybe.”

“Ooh, do tell.”

“I spilt coffee on him like half an hour ago. He seems really nice and it quite nice looking.”

Catarina grinned, “Maybe you can ask him to keep you company until you can leave.”

Magnus playfully rolled his eyes, “Don’t tempt me.” Looking back up, Magnus watched as Alec ran his hands through his hair, messing it up even more. He seemed to be stressed out about something. Poor guy. He turned his attention back to Catarina and started to talk to her about the plans he had for when he got there.

***

Alec was staring off into space, he had replied to every email he possibly could, checked his limited social media, he even checked the news! He supposed that he could take a nap but that only risked him not being able to sleep later. This was going to be a long day. There was a bar somewhere around here, he supposed that he could head over there, but he didn’t feel like drinking. 

Suddenly, he felt the seat next to him become taken, Alec wasn’t surprised, the airport was crowded and the way people acted when trying to get a seat reminded him about how people act during Black Friday sales. 

“I got you a coffee, to make up for the one I spilt on you earlier.” It was Magnus.

Alec looked at him and smiled. He didn’t know Magnus for long but he could tell that Magnus was a genuine person, he wasn’t putting on some persona. Alec took the coffee cup from him, “Thank you, Magnus.”

Magnus smiled at him. Alec felt his heart flutter, Magnus was already extremely attractive and he somehow looked even better when he smiled. 

“So, are you so far, ‘making the most’ of this day?” Alec teased. 

“As a matter of fact, I am. I talked to my friends who I was supposed to be meeting up with.”

“You said earlier that you alternate whose place you go to every year, so I’m guessing that one of your friends lives in London?”

“Yeah, Ragnor.” Alec studied Magnus as he smiled at the mention of his friend’s name. There was so much adoration in that look, this friend of his must be really important to him.

“Every year Ragnor, me and our other friend, Catarina meet up. They’re like family to me so I always look forward to seeing them every year.”

“I’m guessing that you don’t see them often?”

Magnus shook his head, “Usually only for the holidays. Cat is a nurse and practically lives at the hospital and Ragnor is a professor who never seems to get a break. Plus, I am busy and not to mention airfare is quite expensive.”

“What do you do? For a living I mean?” Alec didn’t know why he was asking so many questions, there was just something about Magnus that made Alec want to know everything about him.

“I’m one of the directors of the fashion magazine, Idris. I don’t suppose you’ve heard of it.”

“I have actually, Izzy, my sister absolutely loves it. I bet when I tell her that I met the director of it she will be totally jealous.”

“So, you’re going to tell your siblings about me, Alexander?” Magnus teased.

Alec internally scolded himself, but he couldn’t back down now, he had to go with it. “Of course, why wouldn’t I mention you. After all you did loan me a shirt.”

Magnus laughed, “I am truly sorry about that.”

Alec waved his hand, “It’s fine, don’t worry about it. Now that you mention it, it does make sense that you’re in the fashion industry.”

“Why is that?”

“You have a great taste in clothes, this shirt is very nice.”

When Magnus smiled, Alec got bolder and said, “And what you’re wearing looks great.”

Magnus looked down in an almost bashful way, but Alec knew better, Magnus was just flirting. 

“Thank you, Alexander.”

That name again. Normally Alec hated it when people called him by his full name but he loved the way Magnus said it. He didn’t know why, but it sounded good the way he said it.

“You don’t look too bad yourself.”

Alec smiled, “Thank you.”

“So, what do you do?”

“I’m a lawyer for Shadowhunter Law Firm.”

“How is that?”

“Honestly? Exhausting. I love my job, even as a kid I always loved watching movies with court scenes in it because it seemed like so much fun. So that’s when I knew that I was going to be lawyer. I still love it of course but lately it’s been a little too much.”

Magnus looked at him with understanding, “I get that, today one of my workers resigned and two weeks ago I had to fire one because they didn’t show up for two weeks and didn’t tell anyone anything.”

“My new boss doesn’t know what he’s doing and is constantly messing up. And normally I don’t care about people making mistakes because we all do if, you know? But he is always doing it, and he never admits that he did anything wrong. Like how on Friday he filed some paperwork in the wrong place and we spent hours looking for it and when we finally found it he blamed my coworker, Lydia. And she never even touched that paperwork, she wasn’t even involved in that case!”

“Want to switch jobs?” Magnus joked. 

“Be my guest.”

“So, I guess that we both took a much-needed vacation.”

Alec nodded, “Yeah, too bad it started like this though.”

“I don’t mind the snow, it always leaves me in a happy mood.”

“Even when it causes you to be late for Christmas?” Alec raised his eyebrow.

Magnus smiled, “Well, maybe not then.”

“That’s what I thought,” Alec chuckled.

There was a silence that follow, however it wasn’t an awkward one. It was almost like he and Magnus had known each other for awhile now and were able to just sit together and still have a good time. Alec found this somewhat odd, considering he just met the man, but that didn’t mean that he was upset about this, in fact, it made him happy. Alec was more of an introvert and the fact that he could feel so close to someone he just met surprised him. 

“So, you’re just meeting your siblings in L.A? No significant others or other family?”

Alec shook his head, “No, it just me and my two brothers, Jace and Max and our sister, Izzy. I’m not the closest with my parents because…well I’m gay and they weren’t too thrilled when they found out. They’re better now but it caused a rift between us.”

Magnus nodded, “I’m sorry you had to go through that. I was lucky that my parents accepted me for being bi. But I know how it feels, at school some of the kids would make fun of me. Thankfully I was confident with who I was and didn’t let their words get to me.”

“How old were you? If you don’t mind me asking?”

“Thirteen.”

Alec raised his eyebrows, “I was twenty, so I didn’t have to deal with the high school drama.”

Magnus smiled softly. Alec stared into those eyes and got a great look of them, they were so pretty. They were a deep brown with flecks of yellow in them. “You’re gorgeous,” Alec blurted out. “I mean your eyes.”

Magnus grinned, “Thank you, Alexander.”

***

Another hour had passed and the two had not stopped talking to each other. Everything was a fun topic with Alec, they could be talking about the history of the thumb-tack and it would still be a great time. Magnus liked him. As he watched Alec laugh, he knew that he would ask for his number and ask him on a date after they returned from their holidays. There was no way Magnus could go without talking to Alexander again. There was just something about him that made Magnus feel like he was flying. In a way this was kind of scary to him, after all it had been a long time since he had been in a serious relationship. Obviously, he hadn’t even asked Alec out yet, but Magnus could see something happen between them, something more than a fling. It was frightening but yet, Magnus had the feeling that it would be worth it. 

Eventually, Magnus suggested that they should walk around the stores. Alec agreed and they entered one of the bookstores. Alec quickly pointed to one of the books displayed at the front, “This is one of the best books I have ever read. It’s so great.”

“You like to read?”

“I love it, I don’t really have time to do it often but I try whenever I can.”

Magnus didn’t know why but this comment made him feel more attracted to Alexander than he did before, if that was even possible.

They then went to one of those souvenir shops where Magnus tried on some ridiculous hat and it’s matching scarf, finishing the look with some crappy sunglasses. Magnus felt his heart flutter as Alec laughed hysterically. In fact, he laughed so hard that he was crying. Magnus felt heat rush to his cheeks when Alec took a photo of him. Unfortunately, they received annoyed looks from the staff and decided to leave before they were told to exit the store. 

Before they knew it, it was around dinnertime, they went to one of the many restaurants scattered throughout the building, it took forever to get a seat but Magnus didn’t mind. The food was decent, Magnus couldn’t complain. 

Afterwards, Magnus went to the bathroom to find that Alec had gone. He felt upset, did Alec ditch him? He thought that they were getting along. His fears were soon forgotten when he spotted Alec standing by a window. Magnus made his way over to him, “Hey.”

Alec turned to him and breathed, “Hey.”

“What are you doing?” Magnus asked in a hushed voice. He didn’t know why they were talking so quietly but there was something about the situation that seemed a little intimate. 

“Watching the snow, it’s not coming down as hard now. In fact, it looks quite nice.”

Magnus smiled and looked, he was right. The snow was floating down, the lights on the outside reflecting off of the flakes. If he weren’t stuck in this airport, Magnus would have probably gone outside and enjoyed the feeling of the snow collecting on him. In the corner of his eye, he saw Alec move slightly closer to him. The movement was so small, Magnus wondered if he had just imagined it, that was when he felt a shy hand intertwine with his. 

Magnus looked at Alec and smiled. As he closed his hand around his, Magnus held their hands high enough so he could kiss Alec’s knuckle. Alec blushed. 

“Alexander?” he murmured. “When we get back from our vacations, would you want to go on a date sometime?”

Alec smiled, “Yeah, I would like that.”

***

It was getting late and Alec became tired. Ever since Magnus asked him on a date he felt even more happier than before, if that was even possible. Since there were no seats available anywhere in the airport, Magnus and Alec decided to curl up in a corner. Alec looked at their hands, they had been intertwined for so long Alec’s hand was starting to become clammy.  
Fatigue washed over Alec, as he yawned, he noticed Magnus smiling at him. “Tired, Alexander?” 

Alec nodded. Magnus suddenly stood up, Alec looked up at him with confusion as Magnus reassured him. He told Alec that he was going to get something. After he left, Alec relaxed against the wall. No one would believe him when he told them about everything that has happened today. He knew that his siblings would be happy for him, after all, he hadn’t been on a proper date with anyone for almost a year. 

Once Alec spotted Magnus, he noticed that Magnus was carrying a blanket with him. He draped it over Alec.

“Did you buy this?” Alec asked.

“Maybe.”

“Thank you, but you didn’t have to.”

“But I wanted to,” Magnus insisted.

Alec sighed, the blanket was warm. “We can share it.” He said this for several reasons, obviously one of them being that he wanted to be closer to Magnus.

Magnus sat next to him and covered himself up with the blanket. 

“You need sleep too,” Alec said softly.

Magnus smiled and pulled Alec close. Alec put his head on Magnus’ shoulder. As Alec got himself comfortable, Magnus asked, “Can I kiss you?”

Alec nodded, closing his eyes when he felt Magnus move closer. As he braced himself for Magnus’ lips to touch his, he instead felt Magnus kiss his forehead. Alec tried to hide his disappointment, forehead kisses were nice as well. 

That was when Magnus gently grabbed his chin and tilted Alec’s head up and kissed him. Alec had never had a better kiss in his life. Although it was quick, it felt like it lasted forever. Magnus chuckled as he pulled away, “You’re so adorable.” 

Alec smiled and buried his face into Magnus’ shoulder. Soon he fell asleep.

***

Magnus woke up when he heard the sound of the intercom: “Attention ladies and gentlemen, the planes are no longer grounded. We will try our best to accommodate you as quickly as possible. Sorry for the inconvenience.”

Magnus heard a few people cheer, but all he could focus on was Alec. In his sleep, Alec’s head had slipped from his shoulder to his arm, and he had thrown one his arms around Magnus’ torso. Smiling, Magnus ran his fingers through Alec’s hair. Alec woke up, blinking a couple of times. “Good morning,” he rasped. “At least I think it’s morning.”

Magnus looked at his watch, “It’s five in the morning. They just announced that the flights are able to leave now.”

Alec leaned against him once more, “Merry Christmas, Magnus.”

Magnus kissed the top of his head, “Merry Christmas, Alexander.”

***

Eventually, they got up and went to their separate gates, asking when they could leave. Magnus had the third flight to London while Alec had the second flight to L.A. Alec’s flight was leaving in a hour. As much as Alec wanted to finally arrived at his destination, he didn’t want this to end. A part of him worried that once he left, things that had developed between him and Magnus the past day would go away.  
Magnus put his hand to his cheek, “You’re a loud thinker, Alexander. Don’t worry, we’ll see each other again soon.”

Alec nodded and pulled Magnus into a kiss. This one was longer than the previous, but it was just as soft. 

They spent their last thirty minutes together in silence, but Alec didn’t mind. As Alec’s plane started to board he knew that he would have to say goodbye. Magnus hugged him and whispered in his ear, “Text me when you get there, okay?” 

Alec nodded, “See you soon, Magnus. Thanks…for everything.”

Magnus nodded, giving him one last hug before letting him go. Alec walked through his gate, looking back at Magnus who was waving at him. For that entire flight he had a huge grin on his face because he knew that even though he at first couldn’t think of anything worse than spending an entire day at an airport, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you liked it!!


End file.
